New Spaces, New Experiences, New Dancers

I like to do research and  I am not talking about the kind of research you do before you write a term paper.  I mean getting to know my surroundings before I teach, attend a workshop or even a performance.  I have a tendency to get lost when I drive (even with my GPS) so sometimes I will drive to a location I need to be at a day or two before.  I like to check out the space I am going to teach in ahead of time if this is possible as well.  I like to be prepared so any surprises I might encounter are minimized. 

The same strategies can be applied to teaching/parenting children.  The unknowns are even more daunting for kids.  Children like routine, predictability and do not have the same understanding of time that adults have (meaning children can not be rushed!)

If you are a parent of a child taking dance for the first time, see if you can visit the school before the first day of class.  Try on leotards, tights, and shoes before the first day because sometimes kids need to get used to new tactile experiences as well.

If you are a teacher, invite children to the studio beforehand if possible.  On the first day of class take a tour of the studio.  Discuss how the dance space is different then their living room.  Are there any similarities?  And don't forget to tour the bathrooms!!

If the children are prepared you can help minimize any surprises they might encounter and ensure a smooth transition to a new class, school and experience.  (Parents and teachers will be more prepared as well!)

 Have fun researching your new surroundings and preparing your little ones for a successful dance year!

Sincerely,
Stacey

Dance Treasure Chest

I love keeping a dance journal.  I started this in college.  I wrote down thoughts, inspirations, technical corrections, concepts, anything and everything that I encountered in a day.  It helped me process what I was experiencing.  And some of those thoughts became dances. And some dances I saw encouraged me to right down my thoughts.

Dance Notebooks
I bought small notebooks, pencils and colorful erasers for the children in one of my classes and asked them to write about what the learned, experienced, and what their favorite activity was in class.  These students are 6 and 7 years old.  Some of them asked me if they could draw a picture of their experiences and my answer was an absolute YES!!  They were very excited to each pick a notebook (they were various colors), a pencil and a colorful eraser to go on top of the pencil.

After they were finished writing I asked them one at a time to read what they wrote.   Some entries were very detailed and others were about a sentence. It was special for me to hear each child read about their own personal movement experience and it was also a great assessment tool.

If your child/students are not old enough to write down some words or sentences you can have them draw a picture about their movement adventure.  They can describe the picture for you. 

For examples of this check out http://www.leapinglegs.com/literacy.html

There is more than one way to learn from an experience.
By doing and then redoing in a new way, like writing about it or drawing a picture or talking about it, you develop a deeper understanding of the kinesthetic experience.  Having a special notebook to process the experience is just as important, it is like the dance treasure chest that holds all the gold!

Have fun moving and writing/coloring with the children in your life!

Sincerely,
Stacey

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

I love the wind.  I love feeling the air on my skin.  It makes my body feel alive.  I love teaching movement with the wind as a tool for body awareness.  It is the perfect tool.  We are normally not aware of our skin like we are aware of our knees bending or our arms swinging.  It is hard to be conscious of the back of your neck or the front of your shins.  But when a strong brisk breeze blows by you can feel every ounce of your body come alive.  The hair on your skin stands up as if to shout "We are here!" like the Whos did in the book Horton Hears a Who!

In feeling all sides of the body, in essence your three dimensionality, you become aware of all the directions your body can move.  The wind can blow forward, back, side, and side and so can you.  The wind can twist and turn, so can you.  A kite can take flight and so can you.

Movement Activity

1. Talk about the wind with your child/class.  It travels in all directions.  How do we know?  We can feel it.  We can feel it whooshing by our legs, it sometimes can push us forward or back with its force.  We can see it when our hair gets whipped about or when it picks up a piece of litter and lifts it off the ground.  Let's see if we can travel in all directions like the wind.
2. Give each child a scarf.  (If you don't have a scarf, use a tissue.)  Can they move their scarves forward and back?  Can they make their movements bigger and smaller?  Can they move through the space with big sweeping forward and back movements?  Next try side (right and left) and back.  Can they twirl and spin with the scarf?  Can they move from low to high and high to low?
3. Make a circle and have one child go into the circle at a time.  Watch as they do their wind dance.  Have the children pretend to blow softly, moving their scarves gently, directing the dancer to move gently and slowly like a calm breeze.  Then have the children move their scarves fast and furious like a blustery wind.  The dancer in the middle then should react with gusto!

Have fun moving up down and all around and off the ground with the children in your life!

Sincerely,
Stacey